Recently, the research group of Professor Huan Yang from the School of Pharmacy of Jiangsu University published the latest research titled ‘pH ‒ sensitive intelligent packaging film harnessing Dioscorea zingiberensis starch and anthocyanin for meat freshness monitoring’in the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (Top Journal, Tier I). Starch was isolated from Dioscorea zingiberensis C.H. Wright to develop an intelligent indication packaging film, which could be used for real-time monitoring of meat freshness and introduces a novel avenue for the recycling of underutilized D. zingiberensis starch (DZS).
D. zingiberensis C.H. Wright is the main plant source of diosgenin, which is a key precursor for the industrial production of steroid hormones. Each year, the world demands more than 3000 tons of diosgenin to manufacture hormone drugs. However, at least half of this amount is obtained through acid hydrolysis of D. zingiberensis rhizomes in industrial production, which results in the colossal waste of starch and severe pollution. To make full use of the wasted starch, DZS was isolated, purified and characterized. an intelligent packaging film able to indicate food freshness was developed with butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea Linn.) flowers as the source of polyphenols. The developed film showed great stability, flexibility and resistance to UV and oxidation, indicating it food-protecting ability. The film could be utilized to demonstrate the freshness of packed chicken when blue‒violet was presented and determine the degree of spoilage based on the intensity of green observed. It could be an ideal packaging film when monitoring the freshness during transportation and storage and provides new research ideas for the comprehensive utilization of D. zingiberensis C.H. Wright. Liwei Wang, the 2021 class postgraduate, is the first author of the paper, Professor Huan Yang is the corresponding author, and Jiangsu University is the first corresponding address of the paper. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125485 )
